Richard Simmons’ ‘companion’: ‘He died happy’
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (WJW) — Teresa Reveles began working for fitness icon Richard Simmons back in 1987. It’s also when she moved in with him and their decades-long friendship began.
Many referred to her as his housekeeper. But she said she was much more. She managed his house and they were close friends.
In an exclusive interview with People, Reveles talked about the last days of Simmons’ life.
“He died happy,” Reveles said.
“I can’t stop crying. I still can’t believe what happened,” she said.
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Reveles said she found Simmons in his bedroom. “When I saw him, he looked peaceful,” she said.
She suspects he died of a heart attack since his hands were balled into fists, she said. “I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same.”
Reveles told People she refers to herself as Simmons’ “companion.” She says they not only lived together, but they also traveled together, exercised together and ate together.
Simmons’ brother Lenny told People they were “blessed” to have Teresa in their lives.
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“Teresa was extremely loyal and trustworthy,” Lenny Simmons told People. “She loved my brother, and he loved her.”
In his final interview with people, Simmons said he didn’t really disappear. He spent his days calling and emailing fans.
Reveles and Simmons’ brother revealed he actually left the house quite a bit — but in a mask, wig and glasses.
“But sometimes we were in the street and nobody knew him because he would not talk,” Reveles said.
Reveles said Simmons decided to step back from public life in 2014 because of his knees. She also said he didn’t like the way he looked.
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“He thought he looked too old,” she said. “He did not want anyone to see him.”
She said he had a little less hair and wasn’t as skinny as he had been.
Once Simmons disappeared from public life, focus shifted to Reveles.
“They said crazy things,” she said. “That I kept him locked up in the house. But that just never was the truth. The media was following me everywhere. But I would never talk to them.”
Simmons’ disappearance was the focus of a popular podcast called “Missing Richard Simmons.”
Reveles said Simmons planned to take part in a documentary about his life and was writing a Broadway musical.
The day before he died, Reveles said he told her, “Teresa, I can’t go down, my legs hurt a lot.”
Reveles said she urged him to go to the hospital. But it was his birthday and he didn’t want to go. He promised to go the next day if his leg still hurt.
“But in the morning it was too late,” Reveles said. That’s when she found her long time friend and boss dead.
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